My Automotive History

My youth (as well as I can remember it) was
filled with exciting vehicles. Exciting, but older, cheap, and
not particularly reliable. My first car was a 1955 Jaguar XK-140
MC roadster (bought in 1964 - $650). That DOHC 3.4 liter straight
6 had a wonderful sound but the 14 quart oil sump, SU(ck) carbs
and Lucas (the Prince of Darkness) electricals soon had me
shopping for something else within the year. That something else
turned out to be a 1963 Corvair Monza Spyder coupe (the
beginnings of my air-cooled love affair (bought in summer of 1964
- $1600). The sound of that 2"+ exhaust still rings in my
ears as one of the finest automotive sounds ever created.
Unfortunately it met an untimely end when it was totalled by a
Cadillac while legally parked. The insurance company paid me $256
for the hulk. It was now 1967 and I was shopping again. This time
I found the car of my dreams - a 1958 Porsche Speedster 1500
normal (bought in 1967 - $1500). I loved that car but it had a
bad habit of fouling plugs and the side curtains leaked very
badly in the rain. I couldn't afford to have the engine rebuilt
and arriving at my first full time job soaking wet whenever it
rained convinced me it couldn't be my "daily driver."
Of course I couldn't afford a second car either so the Speedster
got sold ($1600). I still cry when I think about it. Having been
bitten by the Porsche bug, I found a weathertight model to
replace the Speedster - a 1961 356B Super 90 coupe in silver with
a sunroof (bought in 1968 - $1200). Well, it needed a new floor
and too much else for me to deal with so it was gone before the
end of the year ($1100). With an impending marriage I needed a
newer vehicle. Still not exactly a practical person with cars I
settled on a 1966 Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GT. As I recall, it
had the slickest feeling 5 speed and an engine that seemed to
wind up forever. Under the hood was the beautiful 4 cylinder,
DOHC, 40DCOE Weber fed 1600cc cast aluminum Italian masterpiece.
It was kind of wasted around town, but really came into its own
handling wise at 80 and above. It got its engine rebuilt once
before it got dumped in favor of my first NEW car. In 1970 I
bought a FIAT 124 sport coupe. Here was all of the practicality I
was looking for - 4 seats and great gas mileage! It was like a
cheap Alfa - 4 cylinder, DOHC, Weber, 4-wheel discs all for less
than $3000. After the FIAT came a succession of nondescript
american iron (including 2 vans) and 2 boys. Well, now the boys
are grown and I have some $$ to be impractical again!

The CMC Speedster California replicar pictured on
my homepage is my most recent automotive love/project. I
purchased it late in the summer of 1994. It was
"completed" in 1986-1987 by the original owner as a
project with his father. Despite their good intentions, the
construction left something to be desired. And, at this
point in its life it was showing signs of wear and tear.
The rugs had faded to a horrible green from their original brown,
and the seats were falling apart. The previous owner had
opted for those "chintzy" guages labelled "Vintage
Replica" and the steering wheel was a "cheapo"
wood wheel missing its horn button. The engine was a
basically stock 1600 dual port with some "funky" Solex
two-barrel progressive that needed repair. On the plus
side, the car was driveable and the convertible top looked almost
new. Suddenly I was 20 again; pretty good when everything
else tells you that you're really 50 and counting!

In the beginning I just wanted to drive it for
some time while I decided what really needed to be done.
Anyway, I still had to wait to save up some spare change so
I could buy what was needed. As I mentioned, the Solex was giving
me trouble and the stock engine was just too anemic for my taste.
Obviously, the first order of business had to be a
"real" engine (which I will describe later). After all,
it is very embarassing to drive a car that looks like this but
sits on the side of the road with the lid to the engine
compartment raised and a body partially devoured by an obvious
problem! I don't drive the car from November to April so I
had plenty of time to get the engine and put it in for the next
season.

With a fresh engine installed a major expense was
out of the way and I could really enjoy driving the car while it
was being gradually fixed up both mechanically and cosmetically.
The next order of business was the guages. This required
quite a bit of work as the replacement VDO speedometer and
tachometer are a smaller diameter than the originals. I
pulled all the old guages, fiberglassed over the dash, and
drilled the new holes. Then I finished the dash with a black
gelcoat applied by roller to give it a vinyl-like texture to
match the crash pad. Voila! It looks great and there
is nothing like having guages that work. (The homepage picture
still shows the old dash) So far the door panels and rear
seat have been redone and the steering wheel replaced. The
two most pressing items to get to next are the front seats and
the rugs.

The engine was built by me after being told "There's only one way to build an engine; the right way! Do it yourself!"